Harry Potter on the Horrors of War

Sometimes, with the unimaginable chaos in Iraq half-a-world away, we must turn to young celebrities, like Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, to remind us about the horrors of war. Speaking today about his role in British television’s My Boy Jack, in which he plays pro-war propagandist Rudyard Kipling’s son, Mr. Radcliffe, 18, said: “I think it is as relevant today as it ever was with young men all over the world still sacrificing their lives in the name of war.”

My Boy Jack was aired in the U.K. in conjunction with Remembrance Day; it’s also the subject of an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London. In his introduction to the retrospective, the actor explains: “I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like in the trenches living amongst the stench of death and knowing that at any moment it may be your last.”